In this reading journal I will post the contents of and my thoughts on any books I read, regardless of whether or not I liked it or even finished it.

Tuesday, May 7, 2013

ONE STEP TOO FAR

TITLE: ONE STEP TOO FAR

AUTHOR: TINA SESKIS

Pages: 352

Date: 07/05/2013

Grade: 4+

Details: Received from Kirk Parolles

Through NetGalley

Own / Kindle

The blurb:

“An apparently happy marriage. A beautiful
son. A lovely home. So what makes Emily Coleman get up one morning and walk
right out of her life – changing her name, holing up in a grotty house in North
London, taking a dead-end job where she won’t be found. Has she had a
breakdown? Was it to escape her dysfunctional family, especially her malevolent
twin Caroline who always seemed to hate her? And what is the anniversary that
looms, threatening to force her to confront her past? No-one has ever guessed
her secret. Will you?”

This was a
fascinating and surprising book. The story starts with Emily Coleman walking
away from her life in Manchester and travelling
to London to
start a new life, under a different name. This isn’t an impulsive action; Emily
brings her passport and has emptied her bank account to give herself some time
to find her feet. She rents a room in a horrid little house in North London. The house may be disgusting but that is
also where she finds Angel. And Angel lives up to her name; providing Emily
with a new and loyal friend just when she needs one most. Almost despite the
odds Emily (who now calls herself Cat) manages to create a new life of sorts.
She finds a temporary job and not only survives her first day but also succeeds
in making it a permanent appointment and in moving up the ladder through swift
promotions. On the other hand, while Emily may think she is now managing her
life, she is slowly slipping out of control as well. Angel, although a
wonderful friend, has issues of her own and introduces Emily to some dubious
habits. While her painful memories are never far from her mind, Emily appears
to be surviving, if not flourishing, in her new life until the day she has been
dreading is upon her. On this day, the anniversary of some unspecified horrific
event, Emily’s life falls apart once again with results nobody, least of all
Emily, could have suspected.

This is one of
those books where nothing is as it seems. Told mostly from Emily’s point of
view – with shorter sections narrated from the point of view of the other
characters – the reader gets glimpses of her life before the moment she decided
to disappear and get an idea about her troubled childhood. Born as one half of
a set of identical twins she was her mother’s favourite from the moment she was
born. Her sister, Caroline, was as unexpected as she was unwelcome and seemed
to know this right from the start. Where Emily was a pleasant if unremarkable
child, Caroline was volatile and always in opposition to Emily and her parents.
Emily’s parents aren’t much better; her mother’s inability to love her two
daughters equally and her father’s frequent and not very secret affairs did
nothing to create a stable home-life for the two girls. Emily’s life takes a
turn for the better though when she meets Ben, who appears to be her soul-mate.
And when their son is born, life appears to be as perfect as it could possibly
be. There doesn’t appear to be a reason for this woman to leave her life behind
and disappear without a trace.

And the reason for
Emily’s decision, when it is revealed, is as shocking and heartbreaking as it
is unexpected. I didn’t see that revelation coming at all and was very
impressed with the author’s subterfuge in order to keep it secret.

This is a very
emotional story told in an unsentimental fashion. Although we do get a good
impression of Emily’s despair and pain she tells her story with the sort of
distance you would expect from an outsider. While this makes sense if you
consider that Emily was trying to protect herself from her feelings, it did
make it harder for me to connect with her.

I’ve seen reviewers
compare this book to “Gone Girl” by Gillian Flynn. I get that comparison as far
as the shocking revelation is concerned. But whereas “Gone Girl” was filled
with characters I couldn’t like or relate to, this book’s characters, even the
disturbed Caroline, all have their redeeming qualities, which made this book
easier to read and enjoy for me.

Overall I would
describe this as an inspired and original story; a book for those who like to
be kept guessing and be surprised by an unexpected revelation in the final
pages. Most of all I would call this one of the most impressive debuts I have
read in a long time, even if the ending seemed to be a bit too polished.

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About Me

My name is Marleen. I'm Dutch but have been living in Ireland for well over 15 years now. I have a passion and love for reading and books. Since early 2008 I have been lucky enough to have been working part time in the library in Bailieborough, Co. Cavan where among other things I run the library reading group.
I will read almost anything that has words in it, and post my thoughts on everything I read in this blog:

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In this blog I write my thoughts on every book I read. Some I will have brought home from the library, some will have been bought while others will have been sent to me for review. I do not get paid for reading and reviewing any books and all opinions are mine and mine alone. Whether a book was borrowed, bought or received will be indicated at the top of every review.

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